Web Extra

"Attaboy"

Four string virtuosos, each hailing from bluegrass or classical backgrounds, recently came together to bring the world a wonderful mix of the two genres in The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile collaborated for two short and gloriously productive days to create 11 tracks of vibrant classical crossover music.

Also featuring the vocals of Aoife O'Donovan (Crooked Still, Sometymes Why), it's an endlessly moving and ambitious album. The term "goat rodeo" refers to a chaotic, on-the-edge-of-unmanageable situation — but also one with many diverse parts that can come together perfectly. Organic yet composed in a way that only four deeply talented, in-tune musicians could make it, The Goat Rodeo Sessions also hints at Appalachia, Chinese classical, Celtic and jazz influences. If there was ever an album — or an unlikely band — that embodies the word "eclectic," this is it.